Welcome to the Baseball Hall of Merit!

What is the Baseball Hall of Merit? A pantheon conceived of by our founder and commissioner Joe Dimino as an alternative to the Baseball Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown. Our purpose is to identify the best players in baseball history and thereby identify the omissions and errors that can be found in the other venerable institution.

Established in 2003, the HoM welcomes any new voters who are serious about inducting the most worthy candidates from all eras and positions.

Annual elections ...

The Baseball Hall of Merit: Important Links

IMPORTANT: If a link is inoperable, please use this link to locate the thread in question: Hall of Merit Archives
This eventually will be the only place to locate old and new threads once we set up the categorization process.

Finally, a consolidated home page, with all of our important links.

The Hall of Merit Plaque Room - Where we honor the greatest players of all-time.

Our Constitution - The rules we’ve set up. Something Better - the article that introduced all of this.

Positional ...

The Baseball Hall of Merit Plaque Room: Home Page

Enter here to see the players that have been immortalized in the Hall of Merit.

John Murphy was the curator of the Plaque Room and creator (with Ryan Wagman’s help) of the plaques. As of 2011 the creator of the plaques is theorioleway.

David Foss is in charge of the franchise cap standings.

Devin McCullen provides the city and state cap standings.

yest helps us out double-checking the plaques for accuracy.

The whole process is overseen by our commissioner and founder Joe Dimino.

For Hall ...

Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, and “Cannonball” Dick Redding elected - Hall of Merit Class of 2019

Congrats to the class of 2019, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, and “Cannonball” Dick Redding!

Halladay and Rivera each garnered 9 of 27 first place votes, with Redding carrying 6 others. There was strong consensus this year - no other player received more than four top 3 votes. Halladay had 25, Rivera 19, and Redding 15. Todd Helton (5th), Jeff Kent (9th) and Jim McCormick (41st) also received first place votes.

Halladay was the only player named on all 27 ballots. Rivera was named on 26 and ...

Re-Thinking Roy Campanella

progrockfan has done a project on Roy Campanella. So here’s a thread for him to present it and we can discuss it.

2019 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2019 Hall of Merit Ballot thread. Balloting is open from now (December 10) through December 19January 7 9, 2019 at 8 p.m. EST.

I’ve posted this the last several of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how ...

2018 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2018 Hall of Merit Ballot thread. Balloting is open from now (December 5) through December 18 27, 2016 at 8 p.m. EST.

I’ve posted this the last several of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how did you ...

2017 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2017 Hall of Merit Ballot thread. Balloting is open from now (December 5) through December 19, 2016 at 8 p.m. EST.

I’ve posted this the last several of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how did you ...

2016 Hall of Merit Election Results: Griffey Jr., Mussina, Smoltz and Sheffield elected!

Ken Griffey, Jr., Mike Mussina, John Smoltz and Gary Sheffield join the Hall of Merit as the Class of 2016!

Griffey was named on the top of 21 of the 26 ballots cast, leading the way with 619 of a possible 624 points.

Mussina finished second with 551 points - he was in the top four on 22 ballots. Smoltz finished 3rd with 522 points, top four on 19 ballots. Sheffield secured the last spot with 459 points, he was named on all but one ballot and was top four on 15 of them.

There’s a new guy at ...

2016 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2016 Hall of Merit Ballot thread. Balloting is open from now (December 7) through December 17 21, 2015 at 8 p.m. EDT.

I’ve posted this the last several of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how did you ...

2015 Election Results - Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez & Curt Schilling elected to the Hall of Merit!

Congratulations to the Class of 2015! Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling have been elected to the Hall of Merit.

The election was dominated by pitchers. In addition to the top 3, Mike Mussina was a strong 4th, followed closely by John Smoltz. Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa were 6th and 7th, both with enough support that their eventual election looks inevitable.

Moving further into the backlog Kenny Lofton, Buddy Bell, Jeff Kent, Luis Tiant, Ben Taylor and Vic Willis round out the ...

2015 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2015 Hall of Merit Ballot thread. Balloting is open from now (December 1) through December 15 December 22, 2014 at 8 p.m. EDT.

I’ve posted this the last several of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how ...

2014 Results: Maddux, Thomas and Glavine elected to the Hall of Merit!

Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine have been elected to the Hall of Merit!

Maddux was nearly unanimous, receiving 32 of 34 first place votes. Frank Thomas, who finished second received the other two and was the only other player named on every ballot. Thomas received 18 second place votes and was no lower than sixth on any ballot.

Glavine, who was named on 33-of-34 ballots, edged Curt Schilling for the final spot, 610-589. Mike Mussina was a strong fifth with 543 points. Sammy Sosa was ...

2014 Hall of Merit Ballot

Welcome to the 2014 Hall of Merit Ballot thread.

I’ve posted this the last couple of years, but as a reminder:

“This has been an issue in the past, so I’ll repeat it now for clarification . . . the posting of the ballot to the discussion thread for new voters is not just a formality. With the posting of the ballot you are expected to post a summary of what you take into account - basically, how did you come up with this list? This does not mean that you need to have invented the Holy ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1985 Results

Dwight Gooden is the MMP for 1985

Player		pts	ballots	1sts
Dwight Gooden	192	13	11
R Henderson	177	13	1
George Brett	169	13	1
John Tudor	128	13	0
Willie McGee	123	13	0
Pedro Guerrero	120	12	0
Wade Boggs	96	11	0
Gary Carter	89	12	0
Tim Raines	88	10	0
Don Mattingly	56	9	0
Bret Saberhagen	46	7	0
Tom Herr	41	6	0
Dave Stieb	39	6	0
Jesse Barfield	31	6	0
Eddie Murray	24	4	0
Ozzie Smith	22	4	0
Ryne Sandberg	20	3	0
Dale Murphy	13	2	0
Orel Hershiser	12	3	0
Bert Blyleven	9	3	0
Dave Parker	8	1	0
C ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1986 Discussion

Red Sox take the Angels in the AL in seven and the Mets beat the Astros in the NL in six. The World Series goes seven games as the Mets slip by the Red Sox.

MMP voting will end on October 2, 2013.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Wade Boggs		35.7		7.9
Don Mattingly		34.0		7.2
Tim Raines		32.1		5.5
Mike Schmidt		31.2		6.1
Jesse Barfield		27.7		7.6
Cal Ripken		28.1		6.6
Alan Trammell		25.4		6.3
Ozzie Smith		22.6		5.6
Gary Gaetti		23.3		5.7
Tony Gwynn		28.3		6.6
Gary Carter		20.7		3.6
Jody ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1985 Ballot

For 1985, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 4 September 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 3 September 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Most Meritorious Player: 1984 Results

Cal Ripken Jr. repeats to win his second MMP award.

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Cal Ripken	207	14	11
Ryne Sandberg	192	14	3
Gary Carter	160	14	0
Eddie Murray	131	13	0
Alan Trammell	121	14	0
Tony Gwynn	121	13	0
Dave Stieb	103	12	0
Tim Raines	93	10	0
Mike Schmidt	73	9	0
Keith Hernandez	62	7	0
Dale Murphy	51	9	0
Bert Blyleven	49	8	0
Jose Cruz	48	9	0
Lloyd Moseby	36	5	0
R Henderson	33	4	0
Don Mattingly	31	6	0
Dwight Evans	25	3	0
Kirk Gibson	20	2	0
Buddy Bell	17	3	0
Wade Boggs	11	2	0
Alvin ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1985 Discussion

Top players are well represented in the postseason. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers in the NLCS. The Royals beat the Blue Jays in the ALCS. The World Series is a memorable rivalry matchup with the Royals defeating the Cardinals in seven games.

MMP voting will end on September 4, 2013.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Rickey Henderson	37.4		9.9
George Brett		37.1		8.2
Pedro Guerrero		34.2		7.9
Tim Raines		35.5		7.6
Gary Carter		33.5		6.9
Wade Boggs		30.2		9.1
Willie McGee		36.1		8.2
Ozzie ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1983 Results

Cal Ripken wins his first MMP award. All-time low for participation this ballot.

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Cal Ripken	132	9	8
Wade Boggs	109	9	1
Mike Schmidt	108	9	0
Robin Yount	105	9	0
Dale Murphy	93	9	0
Dickie Thon	83	9	0
Eddie Murray	75	9	0
Rickey Hnderson	51	6	0
Dave Stieb	43	6	0
Jose Cruz	39	7	0
John Denny	35	5	0
Pedro Guerrero	33	6	0
Lou Whitaker	27	4	0
Dan Quisenberry	20	3	0
Mario Soto	19	4	0
Tim Raines	19	3	0
Gary Carter	19	3	0
Alan Trammell	13	2	0
Carlton Fisk	11	2	0
Andre ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1983 Ballot

For 1983, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 10 July 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 9 July 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Most Meritorious Player: 1982 Results

Robin Yount unanimously wins his first MMP award.

Player   	pts	ballots	1sts
Robin Yount	165	11	11
Gary Carter 	146	11	0
Mike Schmidt	124	11	0
Doug DeCinces	98	10	0
Pedro Guerrero	96	11	0
Dale Murphy	96	11	0
Dwight Evans	96	10	0
Steve Rogers	80	10	0
Dave Stieb	63	8	0
Paul Molitor	55	7	0
Andre Dawson	46	6	0
Toby Harrah	28	4	0
Steve Carlton	27	4	0
Mario Soto	21	3	0
Joe Morgan	20	3	0
Joaquin Andujar	19	3	0
Rickey Henderson	16	3	0
Joe Niekro	13	2	0
Eddie Murray	13	3	0
Sixto Lezcano	12	2	0
Lance ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1983 Discussion

Cal Ripken leads the Orioles to a championship. The Orioles beat the Phillies in the World Series and White Sox in the ALCS. Phillies beat the Dodgers in the NLCS.

MMP voting will end on July 10, 2013.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Cal Ripken		36.2		8.2
Wade Boggs		34.0		7.8
Gary Carter		25.7		7.1
Dale Murphy		31.5		7.1
Dickie Thon		31.0		7.4
Robin Yount		33.1		7.2
Rickey Henderson	30.0		6.9
Mike Schmidt		35.4		6.8
Eddie Murray		31.1		6.6
Andre Dawson		27.3		6.8
Lou Whitaker		28.8		6.7
Jose ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1982 Ballot

For 1982, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 06 June 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 05 June 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Most Meritorious Player: 1981 Results

Congratulations to our unanimous MMP Mike Schmidt! I don’t have a template set up for putting results in a tabular format but figured we needed results posted.

Player  		pts	ballots	1sts	   
Mike Schmidt		165	11	11	   
Dwight Evans		146	11	0	   
Rickey Henderson	131	11	0	   
Andre Dawson		128	11	0	   
Bobby Grich		112	11	0	   
Fernando Valenzuela	84	9	0	   
Robin Yount		72	8	0	   
Buddy Bell 		56	6	0	   
George Foster		49	9	0	   
Steve McCatty		48	7	0	   
Nolan Ryan	        47	7	0	   
Steve ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1982 Discussion

Harvey’s Wallbangers lose to Whitey’s Cardinals in a more typical season.

MMP voting will end on June 6 2013.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Yount, Robin		39.1		10.5
Schmidt, Mike		35.9		7.4
Murphy, Dale		32.1		6.1
Carter, Gary		32.5		8.6
Evans, Dwight		30.6		6.4
Henderson, Rickey	27.6		6.7
Morgan, Joe		27.9		5.1
Cooper, Cecil		29.5		5.6
Murray, Eddie		29.1		5.2
Guerrero, Pedro		29.6		6.8
Lezcano, Sixto		26.9		5.9
Molitor, Paul		30.0		6.2
Harrah, Toby		28.7		6.5
DeCinces, Doug		27.1		7.6
Brett, ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1981 Ballot

For 1981, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 02 May 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 01 May 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Most Meritorious Player: 1980 Results

Congratulations to George Brett, 1980’s Most Meritorious Player. He led the balloting throughout the election, in a vote marked by a high degree of consenuse for the top three places.

                    1  2   3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  Pts
Brett               8  2   1                                    161
Schmidt             3  7   1                                    156
Carlton, Steve         2   8           1                        141
Henderson, Rickey          1  6     1  3 ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1981 Discussion

The strike, differences in games played by team and the goofy playoff system for 1981 will make evaluations more complicated than most seasons.

MMP voting will end on May 2 2013.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Schmidt, Mike		29.9		7.7
Evans, Dwight		25.8		6.7
Thomas, Gorman		20.1		3.1
Armas, Tony		17.9		4.2
Dawson, Andre		24.9		7.4
Murphy, Dwayne		20.3		4.3
Grich, Bobby		20.8		5.4
Henderson, Rickey	26.7		6.6
Yount, Robin		20.0		4.9
Burleson, Rick		17.2		4.5
Concepcion, David	20.3		3.7
Foster, ...

Most Meritorious Player: 1980 Ballot

For 1980, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 04 April 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 03 April 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.